An open-carry demonstration outside Downtown Dallas' First Presbyterian Church in January 2013

Open Carry Texas and its most active local offshoot, Open Carry Tarrant County, have succeeded marvelously in their quest to mercilessly troll gun-control advocates. Whether they've made any progress toward their stated aim of legalizing openly carried handguns in Texas, however, is another matter.

The National Rifle Association, for one, thinks it may be counterproductive. In a blog post, NRA's Institute for Legislative Action, the most powerful pro-gun group in America, wrote that demonstrating with assault rifles in Chipotle and Home Depot parking lots may be hurting the push for expanded Second Amendment rights.

Now we love AR-15s and AKs as much as anybody, and we know that these sorts of semiautomatic carbines are among the most popular, fastest selling firearms in America today. Texas, independent-minded and liberty-loving place that it is, doesn't ban the carrying of loaded long guns in public, nor does it require a permit for this activity. Yet some so-called firearm advocates seem determined to change this.

Recently, demonstrators have been showing up in various public places, including coffee shops and fast food restaurants, openly toting a variety of tactical long guns. Unlicensed open carry of handguns is legal in about half the U.S. states, and it is relatively common and uncontroversial in some places.

Yet while unlicensed open carry of long guns is also typically legal in most places, it is a rare sight to see someone sidle up next to you in line for lunch with a 7.62 rifle slung across his chest, much less a whole gaggle of folks descending on the same public venue with similar arms.

Let's not mince words, not only is it rare, it's downright weird and certainly not a practical way to go normally about your business while being prepared to defend yourself. To those who are not acquainted with the dubious practice of using public displays of firearms as a means to draw attention to oneself or one's cause, it can be downright scary. It makes folks who might normally be perfectly open-minded about firearms feel uncomfortable and question the motives of pro-gun advocates.

As a result of these hijinx, two popular fast food outlets have recently requested patrons to keep guns off the premises (more information can be found here and here). In other words, the freedom and goodwill these businesses had previously extended to gun owners has been curtailed because of the actions of an attention-hungry few who thought only of themselves and not of those who might be affected by their behavior. To state the obvious, that's counterproductive for the gun owning community.

More to the point, it's just not neighborly, which is out of character for the big-hearted residents of Texas. Using guns merely to draw attention to yourself in public not only defies common sense, it shows a lack of consideration and manners. That's not the Texas way. And that's certainly not the NRA way.

Open Carry Texas responded with a bitter rebuttal, accusing the NRA of being a weak-kneed defender of the gun-phobic status quo:

The NRA has lost its relevance and sided with #guncontrolextremists and their lapdog media. No one in NRA leadership has ever been to an OCT event, but feels competent to speak out against them. Keep in mind, the NRA has done nothing in Texas to get open carry passed to this point and continues to fight it in our state. After all, they make money through licensing schemes of our rights, so unlicensed open carry hurts their bottom line.

This claim isn't exactly true. Two months ago the NRA's main Texas lobbyist spoke before the state Senate's Rural Affairs & Homeland Security Committee as it debated whether to ease gun laws in Texas. Matter of fact, she addressed the committee immediately before Open Carry Texas founder CJ Grisham took the podium.

In her testimony, she made the NRA's position on openly carried handguns abundantly clear:

And who are we arming ourselves against? The Kurds? The Germans? Obama? Texas? Rick Perry? Are The British coming back to claim the Northeast? If I were that insecure that I had to bring my gun to some shitty fast food joint full of olds and kids, man, I'd just give up! Probably just move to Canada or mexico and live off the land.

I didn't read this dumb story, or the EVEN dumber comments. Look at that picture, does anyone of those dipshits appeared have anything going on today? I mean, we are so far askewed from the right to bear arms, and what it means.......now we have Cletus and Randy from Little Elm making the only statement to make them relevant.

It seems the only people who have a problem with our open carry law of rifles are corporations and people outside of Texas. Good stay the hell out. F Chipotle and their bs, f the NRA for their selective pro gunning and fuck the coots from out of state that like big brother having the choice to come buttrape your rights whenever they feel like it. If I am walking through a mall and I see a guy with a large assault rifle I am never worried. You know why because my state trusts me to have a conceal carry permit which allows me to pull out my .45 when shit goes down.

That was not an open carry "demonstration". It was a response to the gun buy back that the church was doing. A few gun collectors knew that the church was ripping people off and set up their own buy back across the street.

Of course! These doofuses are the best friends the anti-gun folks have. Encourage them. Next time they swagger into your restaurant or convenience store, buy them a beer. Hell, buy them a six pack or two. Nothing says responsible gun ownership like some pistol-packing bozo tanked up on alcohol.

@jonathan52677478 I live in Texas, and everybody here thinks you and your pals are a bunch of asswipes. You're ammosexuals and muzzlestrokers who are so terrified of life and society that you can't leave home without your weapons. Sad little boys, all of you.

@jonathan52677478 Wrong. Most people I know oppose people like you brandishing your arsenal at the malls, at our churches, at our schools, and on our streets. Your guns are your feeble attempt to compensate for something else that you lack. YOU are the folks that the rest of us need protection from.

@P1Gunter Actually, I just thought about this, and I think last Friday was Eric's last day as a full time blogger for Unfair Park. I believe Tone tweeted something about it. So the lack of, is probably because the new guy is in orientation and we all know, no one EVER does any actual work on the first day of a new job

@P1Gunter yup, one post and more comments than the other normal 4 or 5 we would have gotten combined. They are probably still in a circle jerk meeting about how great Tone's article on Halt and Catch Fire was and how it drove ratings in DFW. (j/k, I love you Joe)

@Myrna.Minkoff-Katz@Just-Sharon A grown man shopping at Bed, Bath and Beyond for say...a fushia throw pillow for the couch is all the more disturbing if that grown man is carrying an assault weapon. There are just some assumptions we should be able to make about gun weilding men and one of those is that they shouldn't shop at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Does Cabela's carry throw pillows?

Donkey, with respect, you're missing the whole point of OCT, starting with their name. They're not protesting any active, present attempt to grab their guns. Rather, they're advocating for open carrying of side arms, just as carrying long guns is presently legal in Texas.

A real red-blooded American gun-bearer would carry the crusade right into the heart of enemy territory. Guns in Chili's and Home Depot and public intersections mean nothing.

Tote those guns right into churches, old folks' homes. A hospital, an orphanage. City Hall. The Constitution doesn't say "shall not be infringed here and there." It says "shall not be infringed." Period. Once you compromise on one place -- Okay, I'll stay out of schools -- you've lost the battle and conceded the principle that your beloved Second Amendment can be infringed for the public good or some other liberal sloganeering.

We're watching you, OCT. Are you going to assert your manhood or are you going to cave to a bunch of martini-sipping Washington lobbyists who say they represent gun-owners, but who really represent gun manufacturers?

@TheRuddSki this is what happens when you try to conversate with one of them

"It seems the only people who have a problem with our open carry law of rifles are corporations and people outside of Texas. Good stay the hell out. F Chipotle and their bs, f the NRA for their selective pro gunning and fuck the coots from out of state that like big brother having the choice to come buttrape your rights whenever they feel like it. If I am walking through a mall and I see a guy with a large assault rifle I am never worried. You know why because my state trusts me to have a conceal carry permit which allows me to pull out my .45 when shit goes down."